Freakishly strong.

Silence descended over the bloody prairie after the remaining people heard Yao Jun's calm words. The silence was partly due to the shock that his attack had been able to pierce through Meridus' defense, and partly due to the immense shock and awe they felt at the scene in front of them.

Yao Jun was only at the middle stage of the Immortal Rebirth realm, yet he was able to so calmly and confidently challenge someone at the Earthly Deity realm. Looking at his demeanor, it didn't seem like he was challenging Meridus, but rather proclaiming his death as a fact that was already set in stone.

Meridus carried a grim expression, not because of how insulting Yao Jun's words were, but because of the fact that he now felt a strong sense of danger from Yao Jun. At first, he had only found Yao Jun's calmness discomforting, but now that Yao Jun had prepared himself for combat, that discomforting feeling had turned into full-blown wariness. Meridus couldn't explain where this wariness came from, but he trusted his instincts greatly, so he didn't doubt them.

Meridus instantly dismissed the other surrounding people, none of them were able to threaten him, so even if he ignored them for a bit, they would not be able to harm him. His full attention was placed on Yao Jun, his eyes narrowing dangerously as his Qi started to move.

The staredown between the two only continued for a few seconds before Yao Jun suddenly took two steps to the right, moving so fast that his body surpassed the speed of sound and produced a sonic boom. After taking the two steps, Yao Jun's gaze drifted down to his left arm. A few drops of fresh blood were dripping down his fingers, becoming part of the already bloody prairie. But while blood was dripping down his arm, the black robe that was the armor created by his God Gate didn't have a single scratch on it.

Yao Jun lightly traced his left arm, some surprise in his eyes when he felt a shallow hole a bit above his elbow. He thought he had properly dodged the attack, but it seemed like he had been a bit too confident. The surrounding onlookers, who had gathered together into a large group to better protect themselves, looked at Yao Jun with surprise, but Meridus' expression sunk further, a low voice escaping his lips.

"So you can see it. Your eyes must be rather special."

He hadn't expected his attack to kill Yao Jun, he didn't even dare hope that the battle would be that easy, it was mostly just to test Yao Jun. But after he stealthily launched his attack, he saw Yao Jun's eyes instantly land on the approaching attack, dodging as fast as he could. Meridus was confident that unless someone had reached the Heavenly Deity realm, they would only be able to sense the law he had gained insight into, there was no way they would be able to actually see it.

So for Yao Jun to follow it so closely with his eyes as the attack approached him, it could only mean that his eyes were special. Yao Jun turned his gaze away from his arm and turned it back onto Meridus. Now it was Yao Jun's turn to narrow his eyes, his head cocking slightly.

"The law of penetration is it? That's quite a rare one, don't think I've ever fought someone who's used that law."

This was the conclusion Yao Jun had come to after personally experiencing Meridus' attack, that the third law he had gained insight into besides wood and earth was the law of penetration. This law was rather rare, as it was hard to gain insight into. But it's power was redoubtable, as it focused solely on piercing through everything in existence, even space, time, and even reality itself could be pierced if the user was strong enough.

Meridus wasn't wrong in saying that Yao Jun's eyes were special, they had changed ever since he first truly awakened his God Gate inside the inheritance left behind by Sword Empyrean Heng Jiang. Back then, the only Demonic beasts he had were Little Gray and Little Thunder, so his body acquired some of their traits.

The trait he received from Little Thunder wasn't very useful, his hair turning the same purple as Little Thunder's fur. But the trait he received from Little Gray was far better, it was his eyes. When Yao Jun channeled his Qi into his eyes they would become just as strong as Little Gray's eyes, able to see things many people would usually never be able to see. The reason behind this disparity in acquired traits was simply the difference in bloodlines. Little Thunder had no bloodline to speak of back then, he was among the weakest of Demonic beast races, so he had little to offer Yao Jun. But Little Gray had the faint bloodline of an Illusory Roc, a true Divine beast, so he had far more he could offer to the one that would be the future Demon God.

Meridus didn't respond to Yao Jun's statement, his silence a sign that Yao Jun's guess was likely correct. Meridus then broke the silence by taking a step forward, vanishing from his previous location as his body pierced through space and arrived directly in front of Yao Jun. This wasn't the first time in his life that Meridus had met opponents like Yao Jun, someone that made him feel wary and even somewhat fearful, so he knew that his best option was to beat down Yao Jun as fast as possible with his full strength.

Meridus punched out with his right arm, but as his arm approached Yao Jun's face, he suddenly had his entire body pierce through space once more. He now appeared behind Yao Jun and gave his body a quick twist, his fist heading directly for the back of Yao Jun's head. At the same time as he punched out with his right arm, he also stretched out his left arm, forming a claw as he tried to grab onto Yao Jun's spine. To ensure that Yao Jun didn't run away, Meridus had the air in front of and besides Yao Jun turn into countless tiny specks of sharp earth and wood, each on the size of a grain of dust.

These were set up so that the slightest movement Yao Jun did would shred his body and allow Meridus to infiltrate Yao Jun's body with his law of earth and wood. But little did he expect that Yao Jun would completely disregard these tiny specks, dodging forward in a motion that would leave him lying face first on the ground.

As his body approached the ground, Yao Jun's own shadow rose up and swallowed up any of the sharp specks that got close to him, disintegrating them. Yao Jun also sent a backward kick upwards as he threw himself onto the ground, his heel rapidly approaching Meridus' left arm, who switched his claw-like grab into a downwards swipe that aimed to shatter Yao Jun's heel. Just as the two were about to make contact, the shadow that Meridus' left arm cast on Yao Jun's heel grew in size and swallowed up Yao Jun's entire leg.

Meridus' downward swipe missed Yao Jun's heel, which suddenly popped out of the shadow that Meridus' chin cast on his chest, the kick heading directly for Meridus' chin. Meridus had failed to hit, but traces of blood still appeared on Yao Jun's heel, so it was clear that Meridus had been able to use his law of penetration to pierce into the shadows and hit Yao Jun.

Yao Jun's heel connected with Meridus' chin, blue fire and azure lightning exploding forth from the point of impact, a cracking sound echoing throughout the area. Meridus was unable to fully resist the force of the kick, his head forced upwards for a short second.

Yao Jun took advantage of this short second, his sword vanishing into his body and allowing him to dig his fingers into the ground to support his body. He then exerted all his force, sending a kick backward in a straight line, the sole of his foot connecting with Meridus' abdomen. A strong gust of wind was released by the sole of Yao Jun's foot, turning into a small tornado that sent Meridus flying backward.

Meridus flew backward, only stopping when he crashed into the wall of Qi that surrounded the entire prairie. The onlookers were shocked at the exchange, shocked at how even it seemed to be. But as Yao Jun stood up, his expression was not one of delight, his eyes landing on Meridus, who was currently also standing up after having crashed into the wall of Qi.

Cracks had appeared on the skin of his chin, spreading up across his entire face. But these cracks were healing at a speed visible to the naked eye, not even a drop of blood dripping out from them. When Yao Jun's heel had made contact with Meridus' chin, Yao Jun felt like he had kicked a massive boulder, it was as if Meridus' entire body was made from solid earth.

As for the healing of the cracks, that was thanks to the law of wood that Meridus had gained insight into. The law of wood was filled with vitality and vigor, it was very weak in combat, but it excelled in growing and healing, a law suited perfectly for support. Meridus had his law of earth for defense, his law of wood for healing, and his law of penetration for attacking, he could be considered almost perfectly balanced.

Meridus rubbed his chin slightly and gave his head a light twist, his neck producing a strange cracking sound, like stones being smashed against each other. He touched the part of his chin where Yao Jun's heel had made contact, his expression solemn.

"Just like I thought, you are a threat. Someone who is freakishly strong and as such is capable of wounding and maybe even killing me."

Yao Jun was displeased with how little damage his kick did, but Meridus looked at it completely differently. Yao Jun's kick had been able to shatter his outer layer of defense, even retaining enough force to leave cracks on the defensive layer he constantly kept active on his skin. Had that kick gotten more time to gather force, Meridus might have truly suffered quite a wound to his chin. Meridus took a step forward, the entire prairie starting to tremble and shake, tall trees slowly sprouting up from the ground as Meridus crouched slightly, taking a battle ready stance.

"Hear me! I am Meridus Levander, the future patriarch of the Final Horizon sect!"

To state one's name and affiliation was a very standard tradition, it was a sign that one had acknowledged the strength of the enemy and that one would put everything on the line in the upcoming battle. Meridus had taken on Yao Jun's attack and judged him an enemy of equal strength. No matter how shocking it was to see an Immortal Rebirth realm cultivator with the strength of an Earthly Deity realm cultivator, this was a fact he had to come to terms with if he wanted to come out victorious in the upcoming battle against this freak in front of him.

A black light flashed in Yao Jun's right palm, his sword once again appearing in his grasp. He held the sword ready at his side, the wind around him starting to grow more and more ferocious, lightning and fire mixing with the wind while the earth beneath him started to slowly freeze.

"Yao Jun, just some nobody without any affiliation."

Yao Jun's expression was serious as he locked eyes with Meridus, both of them looking for even the slightest opening in the other. But what Meridus was unable to see, was what seemed to be a tiny black seed slowly growing within Yao Jun's closed left fist.